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The award was a huge boost to morale and cash flow in a difficult period that led on to further developments and successes. Shell's support in promotion, photography, media and payment was highly valued and needed - I'd highly recommend people to apply for the Shell LiveWIRE award as the total value delivered is a major win for fledgling startups and innovators.

Adam Dixon (Phytoponics)

There are some things that you can only learn by experience. You need to fail sometimes to appreciate what to do next time. However, there are many other things that are not worth going through if someone can just give you advice. So, get yourself out there, network, network, network!

Elena Dieckmann & Ryan Robinson (AEROPOWDER)

With this award we have greater confidence of achieving our goal of reducing global waste and creating smarter future.

Aisha Raheem (Farmz2U)

The Shell LiveWIRE award has provided Fresh Check with the boost in funding and recognition it sorely needed to go on and strike new deals to make the company successful and help reduce bacterial contamination.

Alex Bond Fresh (Check UK)

Our transition to a low-carbon economy can be delivered by making our linear economic model circular. This is not an opportunity set aside for green entrepreneurs or corporate behemoths, governments or even one for the eco-warriors. It is a chance for all of us to build circularity into every aspect of our lives and organisations, and start-ups need to play their part.

Arthur Kay (bio-bean)

Shell LiveWIRE gave me the support and vote of confidence I needed to develop Aceleron to the next level.

Carlton Cummins (Aceleron)

The award stays true to what it promises by supporting new ideas and entrepreneurs with vital funding and exposure.

Charlotte Slingsby (Moya Power)

The single most important thing to remember as a founder is that your business will live or die by the way you prioritise.

Dan Murray (Grabble)

The Shell LiveWIRE Award was thoroughly efficient in providing PR buzz, funding opportunities and feedback, vital in the early stages of running a company.

Dan Roberts (BananaBerry)

The Shell LiveWIRE award has allowed us to accelerate our innovative production process and has helped the company tremendously. I would suggest the awards to any young entrepreneur.

Douglas Martin (MiAlgae)

Shell LiveWIRE is a fantastic opportunity for young start-ups and entrepreneurs to get a first product out there! It gave us confidence and resources to push our idea to the next level!

Elena Dieckmann (AEROPOWDER)

Winning Shell LiveWIRE has provided us with so much more than just prize money. It has given us the confidence to push forward with Revive, the credibility to get us in the room with potential customers and the connections to allow us to realise our dream; to make money with meaning and a profit with purpose.

Fergus Moore (Revive Eco)

The Shell LiveWIRE Award gave us the right tools to grow personally and our business. It's a great experience and we have been provided with valuable business support.

Giuseppe Baidoo (OOZE Drinks)

Excellent program to encourage the greater entrepreneurial community to work towards a global vision of a more sustainable future.

Henrik Hagemann (CustoMem)

Winning the Shell LiveWIRE award was fantastic for ChargedUp, not only did the funding help propel the business to the next stage with a working prototype but also the media coverage was excellent for our brand.

Hugo Tilmouth (ChargedUp)

Young Entrepreneur of the Year is a great award to aspire to - it's about challenging yourself to make the best of your business.

Josh Burton (Metronome Energy)

As an early stage start-up, the Shell LiveWIRE award provided the much needed support to help validate our business proposition.

Karina Maksimiuk (Hubebub)

Winning a Smarter Future Award has provided us with a platform to raise our profile via the media. It also offers a seal of approval. Potential customers can look at that and think ‘I’m happy to do business with this company because they have that recognition.'

Karina Sudenyte (Wonky Drinks)

As an early-stage company, we've benefitted enormously from our involvement with the Shell LiveWIRE programme and being part of one of the UK's foremost entrepreneurship support programs.

Matt McLaren (Entomics)

This award gave me everything I needed to make my start-up a reality. Funding, media coverage and support - I would highly recommend!

Michael McLeod (UniGreenScheme)

The Shell LiveWIRE Smarter Future Award allowed us to do the initial validation of our green business. The process of applying forces you to properly think out your idea and reconsider some assumptions. The resulting evolution of your idea is worth applying for.

Mohammed Shah (POW)

Shell LiveWIRE's Smarter Future Award has given us the exposure and the resources we needed at the right time and provided us with confidence that we are on the right track.

Nicolas Kral (Phytoform Labs)

The £5000 funding facilitated product development and promotion activities. The PR and exposure was great for our brand and also me as an entrepreneur, and the credibility we have now is definitely a massive benefit to us when we meet with clients and also seek more funding.

Ravi Toor (Filamentive)

Shell LiveWIRE's prize helped us progress our development, it gave us the freedom to keep pushing forward at such an early and crucial stage of our company.

Ryan Yasin (Petit Pli)

You can read as many books as you want and take on as much advice as you can, but I still maintain that the best way to understand something is to go out and do it yourself, then you know intimately what to do, what not to do, and how to do it better next time.

Sam Etherington (Aqua Power Technologies)

Test and improve is a key mantra, Shell LiveWIRE has allowed us to do this.

Sam Rogers (Braw Power)

If you have an idea that could benefit society, you owe it to the rest of us to make it happen.

Solveiga Pakštaitė (Mimca)

Standing on the shoulders of the Shell LiveWIRE award has given us great credibility which has helped us attract a world-class consortium of development partners.

Solveiga Pakštaitė (mimica)

The Shell LiveWIRE award was a real help to the progression of Adaptavate and Breathaboard. As early stage startups, we need to validate our work to make sure we are going in the right direction. Shell LiveWIRE not only supported us and provided valuable PR, but it awesome to be part of the ecosystem of other companies and founders that are striving to make a positive change!

Smarter Future Programme Terms and Conditions

Full award Terms and Conditions for the Shell LiveWIRE Smarter Future Programme

Terms & Conditions of Entry for the Shell LiveWIRE £5,000 Smarter Future Awards after which referred to as the “Awards Scheme"

Applicants:

May enter as a sole trader, partnership, limited company or community interest company (including university spin outs). Please note, the business idea must be your own. As such, franchises or subsidiaries of other companies are not eligible.

Must be aged between 16-30 (inclusive) on the last day of the award month. If the business is a limited company or partnership, all directors or partners must be aged 16-30 (older, non-executive directors of businesses are allowed but must not play a part in the day to day running of the business);

Must be a UK resident (including sole traders, all partners or directors) and provide proof of such;

Must have (or be about to have) a legal business operating in the UK;

Must be either a pre-start (within 12 months of starting to trade) or have been trading not more than 1 year on the deadline date of the award*;

Must not have previously won, or work for a business which has previously won, a Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Award or Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award;

Must accept that the judges' decision is final;

Must submit a completed entry form no later than midnight on the last day of the month.

Applications will not be accepted from:

Individuals under 16 years of age or over 30 years of age;

Non UK residents;

Universities or public sector research institutes;

Local authorities;

An employee, or a member of the immediate family of an employee of, Shell UK Limited (“Shell”) or any Shell affiliate company

A previous winner of a Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Award or Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Franchises or subsidiaries of other companies.

*For the purposes of this application, 'trading' is defined as the date you first accepted a cash payment for a sale which, in turn, went into your business bank account. We may ask to see proof of this.

All candidates shortlisted for the Shell LiveWIRE Smarter Future Awards will be required to:

Have a telephone interview discussing your application in more detail with a member of staff at Shell LiveWIRE;

Have their business details (such as name and nature of the business) posted on the website and be used for Shell LiveWIRE publicity materials (please note that we will use the 'Describe Your Business' section of the application form to create this);

Provide a 1-minute video elevator pitch for the Shell LiveWIRE website which will be voted on by users.

Respond to short surveys after 6 months, 12 months and three years, which will look at how the money has been used and the impact of the expenditure (we will contact you nearer the time);

Spend the funding on your business and provide proof of this;

Provide bank account details for payment (payment can only be made to bank accounts in the name of the award winner, or to business bank accounts where the award winner is named as the owner or founder of the business);

Take part in a photo shoot. To support media outreach around the Shell LiveWIRE Smarter Future Programme, Shell will arrange for a photographer to come to you and take some high quality original photography of you and your product.

Changes to this Contract:

Shell reserves the right to make changes and corrections to this Contract at any time, without notice or compensation. Any changes will be posted to this page and it is your responsibility as a user to ensure that you are aware of any such changes.

Shell may reasonably extend the closing date for applications or waive any of the terms of this Contract where a person might otherwise be disqualified (without obliging Shell to waive or amend the terms of this Contract in any other case whatsoever).

Protecting your ideas:

You accept that it is your responsibility to make sure that you are satisfied with the level of protection for your idea before you submit it to Shell, and to take your own legal advice on this.

You are responsible for applying for patent protection in respect of your idea before submitting it to Shell if you consider patent protection appropriate.

You understand that you may not be able later to apply for patent protection for an idea, which you have disclosed on a non-confidential basis.

Please do not include more detail about your idea than you feel comfortable with or than is indicated in the application form, and if in any doubt, leave it out. However, you should note that, if insufficient detail is provided by you in the application form for the judges to make a proper assessment of your idea, you will not be contacted for further information and your application may be rejected.

You must take all reasonable and appropriate steps to minimise the risk of fraud, theft and corruption in your project. If you engage external auditors, you must ask them to report directly to Shell any suspected or actual fraud, theft or corruption identified by them on their examination of your affairs.

Freedom to disclose your idea:

You are responsible for ensuring that your application contains only work produced by you and that it is the result of its own effort and investment.

You will not upload, display or transmit via the Shell LiveWIRE website any material which you know or ought reasonably to know is false, offensive, defamatory, threatening, obscene, unlawful or infringes the intellectual property or other rights of any third party, and you will not seek to disrupt, interfere with or restrict the use of the Shell LiveWIRE by any party or send unsolicited e-mails to any e-mail address published on the Shell LiveWIRE website.

If you breach this clause your application shall be automatically rejected. If your application is rejected on these grounds and Shell has already paid funding to you, you shall on demand repay Shell the award in full.

Promotion and publicity

On receipt of your application the Website Operator (PNE Group) may inform the Shell Administrators that you have applied and disclose your contact details and your details of your application to them. Shell may contact you to request that your business details are used to promote Shell LiveWIRE to other businesses. Please note that participation in such promotional activities does not guarantee that you will receive an award.

Shell uses the personal data you provide to consider your application. Shell will disclose your personal data to (i) PNE Group (ii) judges involved in the Shell LiveWIRE award in respect of the Shell LiveWIRE programme.

If you win the award you agree, without additional payment, to:

Cooperate with Shell in order to announce your success and the funding awarded;

The reasonable use of your details, elevator pitch, and photographs in Shell advertising, marketing or promotional material on Shell’s websites or otherwise;

Provide Shell with regular updates about (i) how, and how much, of the funding has been spent; (ii) material developments in the project and milestones reached; (iii) business challenges you have faced; and (iv)details of any publicity material produced or publicity received that references your Shell LiveWIRE funding;

Acknowledge Shell’s support and use the Shell LiveWIRE logo and other materials only in the form notified to you by Shell in any promotional materials you produce for the period of your business plan.

Shell’s business activities:

A limited number of employees in the Shell group (“Shell Administrators”) will be involved in the administration of, promotion of and publicity for Shell LiveWIRE and may have access to your applications. In such circumstances these employees will be bound by obligations of confidentiality preventing them from disclosing your information to other Shell employees within the group.

Except for the Shell Administrators, Shell will not have access to your application and will not use your ideas to further its business objectives.

To protect your ideas, the application process will be managed by, and the applications judged by, independent third parties appointed by Shell. Except for the Shell Administrators, Shell’s direct involvement in the process shall be restricted to the payment of funds to successful applicants.

However, you accept that Shell or the Shell group may already be independently pursuing business opportunities, which are similar to, or the same as yours. Therefore, the submission of your application will not in any way preclude Shell or the Shell group from continuing its business activities in the area of carbon emissions or sustainability, nor place any obligation on Shell to account to you for any benefit derived from its activities.

Limitations of Liability:

Shell gives no guarantee as to the outcome of your application.

Except as expressly set out in this Contract, all warranties, undertakings, conditions and terms, express or implied, whether by common law, statute, custom, trade usage, course of dealings or otherwise (including without limitation as to quality, fitness for purpose, performance or suitability for purpose) in respect of the Shell LiveWIRE or any other subject of this Contract are hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Nothing in this Contract shall exclude the liability of Shell to you for loss and damage arising from fraudulent misrepresentation or for death or personal injury resulting from its negligence or that of its employees.

Shell shall not be liable to you for any act or omission of the shortlist judges and/or judging panel.

Shell shall not be liable to you under or in connection with this Contract for any indirect, economic or consequential loss or for any loss of profits, loss of business, loss of contracts, loss of use or loss of reputation.

Shell shall not be liable to you under or in connection with this Contract for any loss arising out of or from (i) difficulties you experience in submitting your application online or accessing the website; (ii) user errors; (iii) negligent use of the website; (iv) sharing of passwords leading to unauthorised access to applications; or (v) your application being lost, delayed or damaged in the post; or (vi) non, late or damaged receipt of any claim for funding, notification or other communication.

The limit of Shell’s liability to you in respect of all claims arising out of or from any breach by Shell of this Contract or the terms of the Shell LiveWIRE Website is limited to the amount you have been awarded. This contract shall be governed by English law and the English courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction to deal with any dispute (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) arising out of or in connection with it.

The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 shall not apply to this Contract.

You shall not assign any of its rights or obligations arising from this Contract without the prior written consent of Shell.

This Contract shall constitute the entire agreement between the parties and shall supersede all previous understandings, oral or written, between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof. In the event of conflict between a provision of this Contract and a section of the Shell LiveWIRE website, the provisions of this Contract shall prevail.

The promoter is Shell U.K. Limited of Shell Centre, London SE1 7NA.

If you are unclear about any of these Terms and Conditions, please email enquiries@shell-livewire.org or call 0191 691 4900 for clarification.

We’re delighted to welcome Ehab Sayed to our alumni network!
As the latest winner our of Smarter Future Award, Ehab has won £5,000 to further develop his start-up, Biohm Ltd.
Biohm aims to create a healthier and more sustainable environment with their bio-based construction materials.
Find out more about June’s Smarter Future Award winner: https://go.shell.com/2OOPFFB

Posted on Aug 07 2018 09:59am

‘Due to our rising population, which is estimated to hit 10 billion people by the year 2050, resources will become strained, especially food products. Innovations in the way we produce our food, which is both sustainable and environmentally friendly, will help accommodate the population rise.’
As the global population continues to rise the way we source and produce food will dramatically change. In our latest blog, Innovate UK highlights the opportunities this creates for entrepreneurs and innovators with game-changing ideas, such as Shell LiveWIRE alumni LettUs Grow and Phytophics who are already disrupting this sector!
Head to our website to read the full article: https://go.shell.com/2Avs3D4

Posted on Aug 01 2018 10:10am

‘Ask for help. The entrepreneurial community is fantastically supportive, and most people will gladly help you.’
Douglas Martin won our £25,000 Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award earlier this year for his start-up MiAlgae, which aims to eliminate the livestock industry’s reliance on fishmeal by growing microalgae rich in omega 3 and other nutrients which can be used as substitute feed.
We recently sat down with Douglas to find out more about his start-up, plans for the future and what advice he has for entrepreneurs!
Find out more in our latest Featured Business of the Month interview: https://go.shell.com/2LK3Fia